The Future has Arrived, Ka Lahui Kai.
Meet the next generation of watermen, they are the Ocean People.
It is October 7th, 2018. All the crews are ready to go. All the preparation, all the training, all the practices have led everyone to converge to this special event. The Moloka’i Hoe.
The horn blows setting the machine in motion, several hundred paddlers working together in their canoes to fight for the lead position. It’s controlled chaos like every year, but on this date, the hard work is going to pay off for a special group of young guns, the men of Ka Lāhui Kai.
They charge hard out the front with Shell and Red Bull Wa’a, getting clean water and establishing themselves in front of the pack early. When it was time to make the first change, Shell had pulled away with the lead, Red Bull was about 100 yards north of KLK, and the boys were ready to fight.
The strategy was set on the escort, KLK must go in and try their best to create a gap. The boys know it would be a hard task, Team Red Bull are as tough as they come, but there was no way KLK would let anything stop them.
Talis Crew sits down with Hunter Pflueger and Kala Diaz to get a better insight from Talis Crew’s first article “We Paddle for Hawaii.”
Tell us about Moloka’i Hoe 2018. What was the competition like and how did you feel?
Hunter — “We battled Red Bull back and forth across all of the Kaiwi Channel. There was one point where we put some separation on them, but they quickly responded by sprinting up to us. It was dead even till China Walls. Absolute slugfest.”
Kala — “There are many races within this race every year. That’s probably one of the hardest mental games about it. Not only being fitter and faster but choosing the right bumps and lines are going to make or break crews when they battle each other. We were in a battle most of the way with Red Bull Wa’a. Those guys are experts in both fitness and race strategy so staying with them meant we had to use all we had.”
How was the last part of the course coming into Diamond Head? Can you describe what you were feeling?
Hunter — Urgency, and anticipation are what I felt as we approached Diamond Head. Red Bull had out coursed us and from that had put a gap on us. It was time to drop the hammer, no more maintaining, it was time to attack. Every-time I got in the boat I stayed explosive, being extra critical, milking every bump, maximizing every second to rest before attacking again. I knew we would have to run a perfect race to catch Red Bull. Stroke by stroke we got closer. I could taste it. My body was numb, I felt nothing, all I wanted to do was get our canoe in front of Red Bulls. However, they are one of the top crews for a reason. We continued to walk on them, but they had an excellent strategy and crossed the line ahead of us. A huge congratulations to them.
Kala — I felt better at that race than I did in past years which allowed me to focus a lot more on blend and making a difference as opposed to just holding on. Just thinking about everything I have to do to make the boat move the best.
The men’s open crew would go on to finish 3rd overall, 34 seconds behind 2nd place, Red Bull Wa’a, and 1st place, Team Shell. A huge accomplishment to stand on the podium with these great teams. Moloka’i Hoe 2018 proved to be a great year for KLK, but what is in store now for 2019? Who is KLK? What do practices look like and what has the preparation been like for Moloka’i Hoe 2019.
Kala Diaz helps us with a deeper dive.
Ka Lāhui Kai is a team of paddlers from Hawai’i, Aotearoa (NZ), and Tahiti. Our practices are pretty regimented every time we get in the canoe. The plan is to make the most of our time on the water every day. The most important thing to focus on when training for a race is to have a plan leading up to the race, what you need to prepare so you have a layout that you can stick to.
We have done three distance races leading up to this year’s Moloka’i Hoe. The Duke race, Catalina Classic, and Pailolo and we came away with the win in all three. The most memorable for me was the Duke race because we were in 3rd till the last 10 miles of the 23 mile race and made a comeback to gain the lead. It was an intense race but shows what distance racing is all about, that you can always recover if you’ve done your training right.
How has the crew been preparing for Moloka’i Hoe and what is your most favorite part?
Our team has endured a lot this year training for Moloka’i, from the long training hours per week to the sacrifices some have to make for school, work and the hardest, time away from family. We have all come together despite it all and put in great work.
The support we get makes it much easier and even possible for the majority of us who are young and are not financially stable enough to follow this dream.
My favorite part of this race is probably the Diamond Head to finish section, because in the past this has been where real dog fights happen, where the real good racing goes down.
It is the most fatiguing portion of the race, with every part of you hurting, your body can all go numb from all the adrenaline pumping but we are ready. The mindset this year has been outwork the competition.
Talis Crew’s motto is “Good Times Ahead”. Everyone we talk to that has paddled Moloka’i Hoe, always walks away with something positive. What is the most important thing you think you will take away from this race once it is over?
Well regardless of the result, one thing we always walk away with after a long season of training is a brotherhood. It is formed by going through so much day in and day out together.
Any last words to the paddle community?
Thank you/mahalo/maururu to my brothers for the great season of paddling our hearts out and to the program that supports our passion and dream to become the best at it. Also mahalo Talis Crew for spreading the stoke and letting me share a little about our Ka Lāhui Kai and our road to Moloka’i.
For more information about Ka Lāhui Kai. Click here https://www.facebook.com/kalahuikai/
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